One woman's journey to beating brain cancer

Beautiful Bali

In-between my radiotherapy and chemo treatments my aunty and I decided to take a short 8-night break in the beautiful Bali. I love this place and have been here many times. It’s sort of like my spiritual home and for a year when I was 12 it was my actual home. My parents built a house there. Well they tried to build one but it didn’t quite work out so back to Melbourne we came.

Without sounding like a massive wanker the Bali I love is not the Bali that the majority of Australian tourists love. I haven’t set foot in Kuta or Legian since I was a young girl … Seminyak is about as close as I get. My favourite parts are Amed and Ubud. On this trip we were staying at a place in Sukawati, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, which is exactly where I wanted to be. Save for having to take my hat off at the airports (there’s still not much going on hair wise at the front) it was a relaxing and peaceful time. I started my mornings with a healthy breakfast, veggie juice and jamu (a local tonic made mostly from turmeric which is a fantastic anti-inflammatory). Then I would hit the gym which I had to myself every day bar one. Come back to the room for a rest in the air-con. Then to the pool for some laps and lying around reading. Usually a massage in the late afternoon. It was bliss it really was. I even received a couple of healings which definitely picked my energy up. I felt like a different person when I returned home.